Michigan: Survive and advance. Michigan State: Survive and advance. Wisconsin: Survive and advance. Three ranked Big Ten title contenders didn’t bring their A games but they all won to stick around for at least another week. Elsewhere OSU rolled, Rutgers got their first league win in almost 2 calendar years, and Northwestern picked up a solid road win.
Team of the Week – Ohio State – A+ – Yeah, yeah, this was a match-up nightmare for Nebraska but you still have to play the game and you still have to be dialed in. Ohio State came to play and had laser-like focus, putting down NU early to the tune of 35-0 at the break. J.T. Barrett’s blistering post-Oklahoma game streak seemed to hit yet another new level as he tossed 5 TDs to 0 INTs, racked up 325 yards through the air and managed to go 27 for 33 on the day. If he plays this well in a couple weeks against Penn State, I think he HAS TO go to New York City. It’s been amazing to watch.
Illinois – F – Y’all just lost to Rutgers. Y’all just lost to Rutgers when only allowing 6/12 passing for 102 yards. Y’all just lot to Rutgers when you had 3 takeaways. This has to be dangerously close to rock bottom, no?
Indiana – C- – How do you let this golden opportunity slip by?!? On the doorstep in overtime, plenty of cracks to get six and then get to decide if you are going to tie and go to round two or go for the win. With first and goal at the 1 Indiana loses two yards, incomplete pass, loses a yard, then throws a pick. Gut wrenching.
Iowa – Idle
Maryland – F – The recipe is this one was simple. Maryland needed to stop the run while getting their ground game rolling. They did the opposite. Northwestern racked up 238 rushing yards to just 85 for UM. Third stringer Max Bortenschlager played well, but the rest of the team didn’t and the Terps missed a good opportunity to move to 4-2 and move that much closer to a bowl.
Michigan – C+ – Has the passing game hit rock bottom? 10/20 for 58 yards feels like it. It isn’t all on the quarterback either. UM’s receiving group isn’t as strong as it has been and the blocking has been up and down. I know Speight before and now John O’Korn have had their issues but very rarely in football is anything ever 100% on a single guy. On the plus side Karan Higdon had a 200 yard day and the defense did their thing to allow Michigan to escape with another narrow victory in this series.
Michigan State – A- – Maybe I’m being too generous with giving this an A minus but MSU has had two emotional victories and dominated this game until that fourth quarter rally. I also loved seeing L.J. Scott go off for 194 yards and 2 scores on 25 carries. Maybe I’m just buying too much into Minnesota still but I thought this was a sneaky tough trip for MSU and they scratched out the win. Well done.
Minnesota – C – Pass defense was nice, offense finally got going late, and Minnesota seems to have sorted out the QB position with Demry Croft clearly outplaying a struggling Connor Rhoda in this game. Unfortunately the change was made a little too late and the hole was too great but this Gopher team is scraping hard. I think they’ll start winning soon enough. Probably against my Iowa team too because that would be the most typical thing to happen.
Nebraska – F – Stick a fork in ’em, they’re done. For once it wasn’t because of a turnover prone Tanner Lee. No, this time everything else decided to go wrong. The running game was awful, the defense no-showed, and the Huskers were flat out embarrassed at home.
Northwestern – A – This is a totally different team when Justin Jackson has lanes to run through. Against Maryland the holes were massive and he racked up 171 rushing yards on 28 carries with 2 scores. Huge win for the Wildcats to even up their mark at 3-3 and get that much closer to another bowl game in the Fitzgerald era.
Penn State – Idle
Purdue – B+ – Gutty defensive performance holding Wisconsin scoreless in the second half and just 3 points over the final three quarters. The defense kept them in the game and the tandem kickers Purdue uses hitting three of four field goals also got Purdue within striking distance. Unfortunately, Purdue’s offense just couldn’t effectively move the ball ending with just 221 total yards as PU got a moral victory, but just couldn’t quite get over the hump up in Madison.
Rutgers – A – No one ever said your first league win has to be a thing of pretty and the Rutgers win at Illinois wasn’t. The rush defense played very well and despite some bleeding through the air, RU did have 2 INTs and 3 takeaways total. The biggest story in this one, outside the win, is the rushing day Rutgers had. 274 of it as a team with Gus Edwards and Raheem Blackshear combining for 178 yards and 3 scores on just 28 carries. The two of them, especially Blackshear ripping off long run after long run, was impressive.
Wisconsin – C – Wisconsin is playing against perfection, not their weekly opponent and with that in mind they were sloppy as sin. Three turnovers, 2 of them picks by Hornibrook, and an uninspiring 8 point home win over a rebuilding Purdue team. This isn’t exactly the style points UW needs to get into the “playoffs.”
Game of the Week – Hoosiers tie it in the closing moments to force overtime and we are thinking: holy crap is Indiana finally going to get over their Michigan bugaboo? Once in OT Michigan makes the plays that Indiana doesn’t and the streak continues. What a game. So filled with emotions and seemingly massive momentum swings all day.
Why Did I Watch This? Award – Ohio State was up 35-0 at halftime. Now I know there isn’t a lot to do in Nebraska, but surely there is something they could do to avoid watching that second half.
Gambling Report Card:
- Illinois vs Rutgers, UI (-1.0), Over (46)
Well half of my pick was right. I knew the Illinois defense was crap and another team would tee off on them but what I didn’t expect was for Illinois to actually lose the game at home. Earn a split as the 59 total points easily cleared but unfortunately 35 of those were scored by the road team.
- Indiana vs Michigan, UM (-7.0)
The rare tie! Michigan’s overtime win by seven points gets us our bet back. Sometimes it ain’t about how much you win, but how much you avoid losing.
- Maryland vs Northwestern, NU (-2.5)
Felt like with all the injuries Maryland would have a hard time even at home and they did. Northwestern cruised to a 16 point victory as Justin Jackson went off with for a great day running the ball.
- Michigan State at Minnesota, MSU (-4.0), Over (41)
Take the split as that extremely low point total was splashed with ease. I mean MSU scored 30 alone! Unfortunately the Gopher’s 21 point fourth quarter points resulted in a 3 point victory for the Spartans. Fun comeback but it ultimately hurt the pocketbook a bit.
- Nebraska vs Ohio State, OSU (-24.0), Over (58)
Some games you can see coming about a mile away. This was one of them. Ohio State cruised to a 42 point win and by putting up 56 alone, the over was easily splashed. Solid double up.
- Purdue at Wisconsin, UW (-17.0), Under (50)
Well one half of this went right…the two teams combined for a pathetic 26 points. Unfortunately it wasn’t 26-0 Wisconsin giving us the cover but a nip and tuck 17-9 final.
Week Record: 6-3-1
Season Record: 56-55-1…back over .500! Whew, let’s keep this momentum going!!
Big Ten and Counting 